The Occupy Money Co-operative is getting NY Times coverage as it works its way to actually issuing pre-paid Visa Cards. Drawing smiley-face points from their association with Occupy Wall Street and the Co-operative movement, the initiative paints a comforting picture. I find two things troubling when I go to the Occupy Money Co-op web-site.

Few institutions embody the image of Canada's international benevolence like non-governmental organizations devoted to development abroad. But do the actions of Canadian NGOs genuinely match this perception?

Eerik Wissenz, writing on Dmitry Orlov's valuable ClubOrlov, takes on the relentless push to privatize "The Commons". He points that while the privatizers are always claiming to be saving The Commons from unregulated over-use, privatization for profit motivates owners to over-use the property. Part one is linked above and part two can be read at this link. These are two of four parts, the remainder as yet to come on ClubOrlov.

In this article, Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese continue their campaign of publicizing the alternatives to the "Washington Consensus" and Neo-Liberal Economics. The article makes a clear case for the foundation concepts of Solidarity Economics, tying it to the ancient tradition of "The Commons", a topic of a recent GEO Issue about the work of Elinor Ostrom.

If you let it, the Communities Conference can really shake you up. Daring people who are trying new or untested lifestyles are presenting or in attendance. Step outside your comfort zone a bit and start from the assumption that you could live somewhere else, or with other people and see what this event has to offer and demonstrate.